Google is rumored to be developing a new generation of AR glasses products

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In recent years, Google has been kept secret about its work on augmented reality hardware. Recently, this situation has begun to change, and today a new report from foreign media clearly confirms that "Google is developing a new iteration of smart glasses products."

Image source: Google

The New York Times made it clear in a section of an article about mainstream tech companies working on AR hardware that Google is "nurturing a new project." The Times believes the new project is the result of last year's acquisition of North. Unfortunately, that's all there are to it all about this new product, for which Google declined to comment.

Therefore, it is unclear whether Google plans to release a new headset product or focus entirely on smart glasses products. It is rumored that Apple's first device next year will be a mixed reality headset that, in addition to providing VR functionality, can also be used for AR development, using a pass-through camera, users can watch the real world through video footage instead of both eyes. Meta is also preparing for project Cambria in 2022.

When Google acquired North in June 2020, the Canadian company had stopped selling Focals 1.0 and decided to cancel the Focals 2.0 project. The startup's various leaders and engineers are now part of Google's Devices and Services division, which is responsible for Pixel, Nest and other hardware. This organizational arrangement makes sense before the final consumer product is launched, as the team building the augmented reality operating system is also in the device and services departments.

The Information reported earlier that Google's AR team "is not developing advanced AR glasses as of mid-2019." At Google's I/O conference earlier that same year, Clay Bavor said the company was focusing on "deep research."

Source: 9to5google